All in Holy Spirit
I enjoy going shopping with my oldest daughter. She has a fun sense of style, and she encourages me to bring color into my wardrobe which gives me a “new look.” Without her encouragement, and sometimes honesty, my closet would be a color range of grays and blacks.
My university library holds a special place in my memory. I often sought refuge there from dorm life for studying. One day, however, instead of studying, a question about the Holy Spirit distracted me.
We spent the day in lawn chairs watching my brother, his grandsons, and a “windmill expert” assemble a 100-year-old windmill in our pasture. By the evening, the seemingly random pile of metal transformed into a functioning mechanism for pumping water from a hundred feet below the ground’s surface.
“Mommie, my heart hurts. I think it’s Jesus kicking it because He wants in!” my granddaughter announced on the way to school. Did she feel preschool anxiety or had God created an opportunity for a spiritual conversation?
I scampered for shelter from tending the burn pile. The rumbling thunder signaled the arrival of yet another Spring storm. From my porch perch, I gazed at the darkened sky and marveled at what I saw—birds barely in view calmly soaring in and out of the clouds.
Have you had that deep night of the soul experience when no words would come as you tried to present Jesus your need? I have. Those are times I’ve experienced that peace that makes no sense (Philippians 4:6-7). I can’t explain it, only experience the truth.
Rhetoric: “the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech” (online Oxford Languages). Amos is variously praised in the commentaries for his gifted writing. I was intrigued.
Confronted with examples and a clearer understanding of patience, I am challenged to grow beyond my adult version of patience—biting my tongue and deep breathing.
Mother taught me how to sew at a young age. At first, she personally handled the do-overs because removing stitches required too much patience for a child. Eventually, though, she announced, “Anyone who sews must also be willing to rip!”
As a child, I remember the pastor referring to the Holy Spirit as the Holy Ghost. Since Casper-the-Friendly-Ghost was one of my favorite cartoons, it is not a stretch to understand why I considered the Holy Spirit to be a friendly version of Casper!
Hmmm. . . What should I wear today? So many choices. Those in prison don’t have clothing or pampering choices. The Israelites, held captive when exiled to Babylon, endured physical bondage as well as oppression by others’ sin and Satan’s tactics. The standard attire was sackcloth and ashes—symbolizing mourning or agony.
The “hope of the gospel” is my purpose—my one thing. God is faithful to remind me of this when I question my life and forget who and whose I am. What about you?
This is not the first time Jesus filled the nets of the fishermen. On the first occasion Simon Peter was so astounded he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8). It had dawned on him who Jesus really was. Then he, Andrew, James, and John promptly left their nets to fish for men.
Who can see the wind? No one. We only see the effects of wind.
Chinook winds are common every winter around Boulder, Colorado. Chinook winds are warm, dry, and blow from the west down mountain ranges.
Over fifty years ago as I hopped downstairs to the kitchen, I heard a distinctive yet familiar voice on the radio that Mom listened to every morning.
Certainly, the glory of Zerubbabel’s temple did not compare to that of Solomon’s. But it wasn’t really the ornate gold and silver that gave that first temple the glory, was it ladies?
So the people climbed the hill and got the wood (1:8), and the work on the house of the LORD began in earnest. A month into the rebuild, Haggai spoke again: “‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem like nothing?’” (2:3).
A comment from Oswald Chambers created a fresh perspective for me on the darkness of night:
“We are only what we are in the dark, all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our mind; the thoughts of our hearts; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight.” *
Micah carries on the shepherd theme. By implication Israel will no longer be abandoned (5:3). In the meantime, the Good Shepherd not only lay down His life for us, for the sheep (John 10:11). The God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, (wishes to) equip you with everything good for doing his will, and…work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 13:20).
Do you have any enemies?
No one wants to think there are enemies… but they are real, and YOU do have them.
The Bible is clear… God’s children have spiritual enemies and those enemies hate God!
